There are several existing systems and methods of augmenting and enhancing a game of golf. Many of these systems and methods relate to improving shot-making during a game, and utilize global positioning devices to determine player and shot location while a game of golf is in progress on a golf course.
Many of these systems and methods rely on either hand-held measurement devices or products attached to golf clubs to provide information required for meaningful assistance to a golfer in playing a game. Each of these, however, carries with it significant drawbacks.
For example, the use of hand-held devices requires a golfer to spend extra time handling the device, which takes away from the user's experience in actually playing the game. Hand-held devices must also be carried by the golfer, usually either in a golf bag or in one's pocket, resulting in having to think about where the device is instead of enjoying the game in-progress. The golfer may forget to use it, resulting in inconsistent data collection and a degradation of the quality of functionality provided. Finally, such devices may get lost during a game. Meanwhile, devices attached to golf clubs introduce a bulky component to the clubs, which are increasingly engineered to be light-weight, high-performance playing equipment. They may also be easily damaged or broken during club use.
U.S. Patent Application No. 2009/0305822 teaches a prior art system and method for enhancing a golf game in which a global positioning system is used to establish a score database for players. Scoring information is obtained from global positioning devices and stored locally before being updated to a remote computer at a later time. However, there is no method of real-time score updating to provide golfers with in-progress information about their game, or a real-time summary of how others in a golfer's party are faring on the course. There is also no enhanced functionality for making the game more interesting by being able to view video taken or getting shot assistance information while the game is in progress.